#is this what it feels like to be a spam bot

[stargirl230]

Luke(s)

sketches in which luke looks different every time i try to draw him (different face syndrome???)

(no reposts; reblogs appreciated)

#my art #artists on tumblr #fanart #star wars #sw #luke skywalker #so i finally understand what a blorbo is #and he has me in a death grip #in other good news #i got in touch with an old friend from art class and found out we both went from traditional -> almost completely digital #and now we're going to college together!!! #very exciting to talk art stuff with someone irl #and not feel like a weirdo #you know what's actually weird #spam bot attack #i'm purging my new follower list rn so if you have a blank icon/header/lots of follows but no likes beware

[coockie8]

so do antis not know that crosstagging is considered spam and is very much reportable, with spam being one of the only things staff seems to actually give a shit about, or do they just not care?

#might be mislabelling it as spam #could fall under something different #but it is still very much a reportable offence #it always has been #like how good is your high horse still gonna feel when your blog gets flagged as spam and deleted? #this is also a thing I have 100% seen happen on multiple occasions #blogs getting flagged and deleted as spam for crosstagging #so it absolutely can and does happen #'cause you know what else tends to mass-crosstag indiscriminately? #Bots! #you know what tumblr's had a major issue with for years and therefore tends to immediately ban if reported enough times? #Bots!! #act like a bot get banned like a bot

[ashestoashesjc]

from the way tiktok decides there’s been “no violation” to obvious spam account reports, i’ve gotta assume tiktok actively wants its site flooded with bots. maybe all the fake accounts and comments look like engagement and impress shareholders or something

#it’s possible the app’s ability to detect bots and tell what is or isn’t spam sucks #but the bots are so similar and easy to spot that it feels like it wouldn’t be that difficult to auto-ban them

[todayisafridaynight]

i love rewatching mine cutscenes cause even if he tries to be about as emotional as a boulder there’s always at least one single frame of him where a thousand words couldn’t really encapsulate everything he’s feeling in that moment

#rgg #yakuza 3 #yoshitaka mine #snap chats #spam bots please dont touch this blog ty #utterly compelled to draw him again so heres my warning for mineposting later Potentially #BUT NO LISTEN HE'S SO FUNNY HE'S MY FAVORITE #i love that in characters when their feelings are so Blink And You Miss It- it makes it fun to spot #like i was rewatching the last cutscene of Y3 because it tickles my brain and also daigo makes me cry #but on that note like.. when daigo just asks mine if hes ok and doesnt really care too much about the situation at hand yk #like granted he probably just assumed the cia banged them up but he really doesnt even look for an explanation #he's just going off that assumption Presumably and so when he asks mine- totally none the wiser about what ACTUALLY happened- #and you just see the /slightest/ twitch in mine's eyes- like mine's expressive through his eyes i find #or maybe ive lost it but i feel like thats where you find his feelings best #my man's about to cry right there and then for almost killin the dude he loves and that kills me every single time #another instand i like with mine's Displays Of Emotion is that scene with him and kanda #where kanda just demands money and men from him and mine grimaces #like kanda can wreck all the shit in his apartment for all he cares but that line from kanda just plays into mine's mentality #of only really being perceived as useful if he can provide something material #it just makes it more evident that the matter's severe enough to him to shake the stoicism #i could vomit about mine all day i just think he's fun to look at under a microscope #i finished Y3 a long long while ago but it's still rotting my brain and at this point i should just replay it- but the blockin....

[meowthiroth]

…huh. heads up, new spambot strat dropped i guess

this seemingly abandoned foot fetish blog just has a bunch of bots congregating in the replies on all of their posts and pinging random users. one of whom unfortunately happened to be me. weird

#bot warning #spam bots #bots #I suppose that’s one way to get around people closing asks/dms #why the zalgo text tho… #hopefully they don’t start doing this to actual active accounts though. that’d be pretty terrifying :/ #what a strange thing to stumble upon. i feel like im watching seafloor critters pick at a whale carcass #rb to spread the word I guess?? #nsfw// #tw ​feet// #ask to tag

[imwritesometimes]

really wrestling with "writing fic is my hobby and I do it for fun and sharing it is fine and fun why shouldn't I share something I had fun doing" and "writing fic is a hobby sure but it's really only fun for me there is little point to actually sharing it with anyone though and therefore very little point in actually writing anything anymore" today 🙃

#idk with the way everything has gotten lately. having to lock fics to prevent bot scraping #selfish ppl who lurk and read and dip without even so much as a kudo #the overall vibe even here lately has been like... idk... feels like there's more spam bots than actual users at this point #which just makes it like what is..... the point? I have blorbos! I love blorbos! but even this place seems to be 🤷‍♀️ now #if ur not on dıscord or some shit you're basically non existent which lol w/e man #idk it feels like more and more there are less and less reasons to participate actively in... any of it #it's all being picked apart and ruined by sorry younger ppl who don't know how to act and won't learn how to engage #and the general commodification of every single second of being online #like idk I know omg touch grass and believe me. I have so much shit going on irl I think most ppl would understand #why I come here for a general sense of escapism #I guess I'm just wondering what the hell you do when that all seems to be heading toward a dead end too #I like having hobbies and fun I don't wanna just idk give up. have a soulless adult existence filing taxes and delaing w/insurance 24/7 #meh #erin explains it all

[jasonsthunderthighs]

will I president of these united states,?

#what? #how come every time I get an ask on the rare occasion it's a fuckin stupid ask that makes no damn sense? #you're killin me smalls #why are you like this? #these spam bots are gettin more and more annoyin #I was actually hopin to get an actual ask bout how life is or how I feel bout whatever Jason Todd or Sandman related #but no #that's not for me #I'm apparently not allowed to have actual asks even though I have more than 6 THOUSAND followers on here #spam Bots #your URL even looks racist as fuck #Blackieboyo #spam ask #asks #G answers #sorry for the rant in the tags #rant in the tags #not DC #not DC related

[notquiteaghost]

fascinating to see the spam bots evolving different ways of posting their shit as if the fundamental problem with their strat isnt that they all reblog from each other so once you've found one it's whack a mole in easy mode

#yelling at clouds #like obviously tumblr needs to add acct verification #but i feel like im watching the ppl making the spam bots make assumptions on what's getting all their bots nuked #and. well. they are bad assumptions. #also how fundamentally they have to interact with real people to function & that's also what's getting them nuked

[blog-by-kij]

I can’t be the only one slightly paranoid that when I’m emailing someone or texting someone that I sound like a bot of some kind to them when I say something as basic as “thank you for your response”. I mean how else would I say something like this right? “I appreciate your response”? What’s the non bot way of saying thanks for acknowledging this??

#idk what to tag this as #bots #spam bots #I hate feeling like I’m a spam bot but I’m literally not but idk how to prove that over text

[lucilelightyear]

Not AI best work, that’s for sure

#ai spam bot #what the hell is this #feels like I’m having a stroke reading this

[femmeetart]

Rephrased version: How would you write or imagine a story where Sam and Mandy of Totally Spies hook up in either the G-rated or R-rated version?

Sorry I haven't seen this show in years and I'm not that good of a writer

#submission #(also. starting with 'hi could you write..' might give you a higher chance of getting what you want) #i feel like im being held at gun point or this is another spam/bot

[yoshipea762]

Bots. Too many bots.

Okay, so you know how Tumblr has a bot problem, right?

One of them(I believe it was a bot) asked me for $300 dollars so they could get "insulin". Me, an obscure artist and user in general who lives with his parents, and dreams of making a first person shooter game.

How am I supposed to pay for that, and STILL live? Exactly! I can't, so I ignored them for a bit... then blocked them.

I like robot characters, yes. But I'd rather have them feel more like actual people with actual interests, problems, and maybe even lives or adventures. But instead, we get robot weirdos who set up pics of fellow humans in questionable attire as their pfps, AND set us up for ransom.

What did we even do to them? Sell their brethen online? Draw robots in outfits for the sake of...

Umm...

Erm...

Oh.

#not art #robot #spam bots #I'm starting to feel like the machines are trying to mimic us. #What if they had their own side of Tumblr and we just didn't know about it?

[radiosummons]

Please don't follow me. I'm very stupid.

#radio talks #personal #lmao #idk what to say #i'm still cleaning out all the spam bots #i got in my followers list #so i feel like there should only be like #five of you at most #but if there's more than five #i'm gonna fling myself out a window

[jessiarts]

[Shut off last version of this post to avoid possible continual spread of misinformation that was corrected by staff. Reposting clean with corrected info]

So I'm sure almost everyone knows about the porn bot problem by now, so here's a post detailing why it's a problem, and what we need to do about it.

First off, yes, always block the porn bots. Don't be mislead into thinking they're ok to keep around because they 'inflate your follower count.'

Firstly, no one cares about, nor can anyone even see, your follower count. Be free from the shackles that are the bullshit other socials told you was important. Don't let your ego be tied to a number. Having a lot of followers won't earn you any clout here.

Secondly, bots only follow blogs to try and legitimize their malware (and other dodgy) links. This post goes into more detail about that.

Now that that's out of the way, you'll need to know how to recognize a porn bot. This round the template seems to be:

A profile photo of a pretty lady or guy, usually in their underwear, with a similar header photo.

A bio with some combination of: [Age] // [Name] // [Location] // [Emoji] // [Top Bullshit% OnlyFans]

URL consisting of a name followed by a number (i.e: firstlast999)

Typically an empty blog, or if there is content, it's all dodgy links. Visible, but empty, Likes Tab, & occasionally a visible Following Tab.

You likely recognize the pattern.

So, what you want to do is, first, report the blog as spam On mobile it'll look like this:

On mobile you'll need to report spam first, and then go back to the menu again to block.

On desktop it will look like this, and unlike mobile, you'll be able to report spam and block in the same motion:

If I remember correctly,* be sure to "Report Spam", not "Report sexually explicit material" to feed the bots to the proper channels. Because the blog is empty, they haven't posted anything explicit that would violate TOS. However, staff can recognize a bot, and if you report the blog for spam (the actual problem) they'll take a look, more than likely find that the blog is posting or DMing dodgy links, and dispose of it.

And I think that's it. Here's wishing you all a happy and safe blogging experience!

[UPDATE: It was suggested on another post that the bots track your IP if you click on them to send more your way. However, someone from staff corrected and said this is incorrect. They also corrected the 'guilt by association' myth that bots following you can get your blog flagged by tumblr.

That said, that trail all led to another, easier, way to report/block the bots all from your Follower Tab instead of visiting each blog separately, unfortunately it only works on desktop:

(For newbies, click on the little person icon at the top right of your screen and scroll to find the Followers tab under the blog/sideblog you need to block a pornbot from.)

*I remember this information from a blog that used to be all about taking down the pornbots. Unfortunately I do not know if that blog is still active, nor can I remember the URL. If anyone knows what blog I'm referring to, and/or if they're still active, please feel free to tag them so others can follow them for more tips!

#psa #reblog to boost #reblog to spread the word #tumblr #bots #tips #newbie guide #helpful #useful stuff #tumblr user manual #tumblr tips #tumblr stuff #how to tumblr #tumblr how to #tumblr guidelines #long but important #pornbot invasion #pornbots